Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Simulation + Minimalist: a typical launch earns $515 in its first year

That is the median of 92 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 5 of 194 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 6.8 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 130% on the year before: 239 against 104.

Price: $515
Price vs a year earlier: +51.1%
Releases, 12 months: 239
Upcoming games: 297
Games on the store: 952

Boards

as of 30 Sep 2026

Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.

Simulation + Minimalist on each board
Board	Value	Interval	Sample	Standing
Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it.	0.03%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.03% to 0.04%	8 ranked of 298 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#2,992 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	0.82xhits against expected	0.56x to 1.34x	194 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#3,969 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 20 or more releases in each 12-month period.
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 1,000 reviews in each window.

Pairs are noisier than genres: the demand boards at pair level are indicative only.

Launch success

launches 6 to 30 months old

Matured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.

Hits: 5
Expected: 6.8

Launches: 194
Hit rate: 2.6%1.1% to 6.6%
Expected rate: 3.5%
Against expected: 0.82x0.56x to 1.34x

Launch window: indie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old). Hit odds are shrunk toward the Steam-wide rate by 3 expected hits.

Revenue spread

194 launches

Estimated lifetime gross of the same matured launches. Half earned less than the median; one in ten earned more than the top figure.

Bottom tenth: $0
Median: $414
Top tenth: $23,641

Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.

Supply

raw release counts

Games released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.

Last 12 months: 239
Prior 12 months: 104

Change: +130%

Parent tags

SimulationGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
MinimalistNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.

Comparable games

8 indie titles

The biggest indie games in this pair by estimated lifetime gross. Revenue is shown as a number at 50 or more reviews, as a range at 10 to 49, and not at all below 10.

More with Simulation

pairs with Simulation

Simulation + Shop Keeper$32,26936 launches priced, 330 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Cozy$15,70676 launches priced, 253 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Online Co-Op$11,02868 launches priced, 133 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Multiplayer$8,980122 launches priced, 253 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Base Building$7,38289 launches priced, 173 releases in 12 months
Simulation + Economy$6,979210 launches priced, 540 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Simulation

More with Minimalist

pairs with Minimalist

First-Person + Minimalist$60444 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
Minimalist + Logic$53692 launches priced, 133 releases in 12 months
Minimalist + Idler$44444 launches priced, 144 releases in 12 months
Exploration + Minimalist$38360 launches priced, 86 releases in 12 months
Adventure + Minimalist$32279 launches priced, 114 releases in 12 months
Retro + Minimalist$26136 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Minimalist

Verdicts

in development

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